Folder for sewing-machines.



. PATENTED MAR. 13,1906.

A. H. DE v05.

FOLDER FOR SEWINGMAGHINES I APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17. 1904.

" nNnEn STATES PATENT oE ioE.

' ALBERT H. DE voE, OF ELIZABETH, NEW ERsEY. ASSIGNOR TO THE siNsER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ELIZABETH, NEw JERSEY, CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FOLDER FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented March 13, 1906. Application filed June 1'7, 1904. Serial No. 212,927-

beth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folders for Sewing- Machines, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accom anying drawings.

Tl iis invention has for its object to provide a sewing-machine folder, such as a hemmer or feller, with means whereby it may be permitted to yield to accommodate variations in thickness of the'material, such as are produced by cross-seams, while maintaining a substantially uniform width of the hem or fold and even spacing of the line or lines of stitching in relationto the edges of the folded materia. p I p The improvement is sp ecifically shown and described herein as embodied in a lap-seam feller, but is" evidently adapted for application to other forms of attachments of this class.

The invention consists primarily in a rigid folding tube or tubes fixed upon a suitable base-plate and provided witha laterally or edgewise yielding tongue sustained intermed'iate the upper and lower portions of such tube or tubesaround which the edge of the material is folded. The lower or primary folding-tube or edge-turning scroll preferably has the lower portion attached to the baseplate and the upper portion connected with one edge of a material supporting and guiding wing of which the other edge is attached to and merges intosaid base-plate and the intermediate portion of the receiving end of said scroll, while a second scroll is attached rigidly to the first-named scroll with its upper side above the said material supporting and guiding wing. l v

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the bed-plate slide ofa sewingmachine provided with a lap-seam feller embodying the present improvements, the upper portion of the left-hand scroll being removed, but represented in outline in dotted lines. Figs. 2 and 3 are end elevations of'the attachment viewed from'the receivingjand delivery ends, respectively Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the integrally-formed yielding tongues with intermediate spring-finger detached from the feller. Fig. 5 is asectional plan view, upon a larger scale, of the intermediate block to, which the scrolls are attached to illustrate the method of application of the yielding tongues.

3 As shown in the drawings, the bed-plate 1 of'the attachment is permanently attached to the top of the sewing-machine bed-plate 1 Slide '2. The lower or right-hand scroll 3, in the usual form of a conical half-tube, has its lower portion attached to the base-plate 1, with which its adjacent curved guiding-surface forms a continuation, while its upper portion is attached to one edge of the laterally and downwardly inclined material supporting and guiding wing 4, of which the other edge joins that of the bed-plate 1, while its forward portion merges into the said bedplate and the adjacent end of the scroll 3. A common. attachlnent-block 5 rigidly connects the upper left-hand side of the scroll 3 at the receiving end portion with the lower portion of the right-hand side of the upper or eft-hand scroll 6, of which the open side is disposed above the material supporting and guiding wing 4, by which the upper layer of fabric is guided into the same. .,By the connections of the scroll 3 and wing 4 with the bed-plate 1 in the manner described, so as to 1 sage through the feller, and thus causeobstructions operating to choke the guidingtubes, as inattachments of this class heretofore in common use.

I Theblock 5 is divided vertically and longitudinallyby means of a slot 7, extending nearly to its forward end and provided with an enlargement 8 intermediate the ends, in

which is introduced the spring-finger 9, vex v tending longitudinally from an elastic connecting member to which are attached two flat spring-tongues 10 and 1 1, formed integral withand substantially at right angles to the same, as shown particularly inFig. 4. As

represented herein, the tongue 10 lies with one edge resting upon the upper side of the a upper edge portion, constituting arigid lateral tongue of the block 5, while the tongue 11 similarly rests upon the under face of the lower edge portion, constituting also a rigid lateral tongue of the block 5. The spring member 9 1O 11 is held in place in the slot 7 by means of a screw 12, passing through holes in the rear end of the same and the divided end portion of the block 5, the joint thus formed being made sufficiently loose, and the faces of the slot 7 adjacent thereto are in practice suitably shaped to permit the tongues 10 and 11 to yield edgewise against the normal action of the spring-finger 9, for the bending of which under such action the enlargement .8 of the slot 7 affords provision. As this s ring member is formed from a single thin slieet metal blank, it is evident that the tongues 10 and 1 1 will readilyspring vertically and their intermediate elastic connection within the loose bearing afforded by the block adjacent the fastening-screw 12 will permit them also to independently yield edgewise.

It is obvious that the small amount of clearance space necessary for the described action of the spring connection intermediate the spring-tongues 10 and 11 and the preferable s ight rounding of the walls of the slot 7 adjacent the fastening-screw 12 are not of such proportions as may be represent-ed in the drawings, and hence no attempt has. been made to illustrate this feature. It is evident that as the opposite ends of the slot 7 are of such width as to loosely support the continuous portions of the spring member comprising the tongues 10 and 11 the latter will readily perform their described functions, it being understood that the s ring connection intermediate the tongues wil cause them to yield edgewise in the same direction in the plane of the fold produced by the folder, excepting when such corresponding movement is resisted by variations in the thickness of the material engaging each, when they will yield independently, and thus obviate the clogging which would otherwise occur in the passage of material of uneven thickness into the folder.

In the operation of the attachment the edges of the two overlapping layers of the material are introduced into the rearward ends of their respective edge-turning scrolls and are turned over and interlocked in their passage through the feller for delivery to the stitch-forming mechanism in the usual way, the lower layer riding up easily over the forward end of the wing 4 without any attention on the part of the operator and without any liability to catch upon any sharp corners or in any angular recesses presented at the re-' ceiving end of the attachment. As any crossseams are introduced the rigidity of the two scrolls prevents the widening of the fold, the extra thickness of the material being accommodated principally by the lateral or edge wise and also by the vertical yielding of the spring-tongues 11 and 12 intheir respective tubes or scrolls, such tongues springing back to their normal positions as the cross-seams are delivered from the forward end of the attachment, thus serving to maintain preferably alight tension u )on the folds of material in conjunction with t 1e curved inner walls of their respective scrolls in respect of which they are self-adjusting.

As represented herein the upper portion of the right-hand scroll 3 and lower portion of the left-hand scroll 6 each forms a rigid supporting-tongue of which the spring-tongues constitute laterally-yieldin extensions, over which the material is folded by the other scroll embracing the same; but it will be readily seen that the width of the spring-tongues 10 and 11 will determine whether or not the edge portions of the scrolls afforded by the lateral flanges of the block 5 shall be necessary to operate as continuations of the s Jringtongues to support the material for such purose.

p While the present improvement is re )16- sented herein as embodied in a lap-seam feller, it is evident that it may be readily embodied in hemmers and other edge turning or folding attachments requiring the similar handlin of the material. It is thus evident that the improvement is not limited to the precise details of construction and arrangement herein shown and described, but is susce )tible of considerable modification without eparture from the present invention, the essential feature of which is the construction of the folder for delivery of the fold or hem in a uniform width to the stitch-forming mechanism,while amply providing for variations in thickness of the material.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim herein is- 1. A sewing-machine folder comprising a base-plate, an edge-turning scroll rigidly attached thereto and having the o )posite guiding edges of its delivery end rigi ly connected together and spaced a fixed distance apart, and flat supportingtongues for the material disposed intermediate the upper and lower portions of said scroll and each adapted to yield edgewise and inwardly from the guiding edge in conjunction with which it acts in the production of a fold in the material.

2. A sewing machine folder comprising two rigidlysustained edge-turning scrolls having the guiding edges of their delivery ends a fixed distance apart, a rigid materialsupporting tongue embraced by each of said scrolls, and an edgewise yielding springtongue normally resting against the edge portion of each of said rigid tongues, and ada )ted to yield inwardly away from the guiding edge of its respective scroll.

3. A sewing-machine folder comprising a IIO base-plate, two edge turning scrolls c rried maintaining said tongues in normal position thereby and having the guiding edges of their each within its respective scroll. delivery ends a fixed distance apart, an im- In testimony whereof I have signed my termediate slotted block to which each of name to this specification in the presence of 5 said scrpllsis rigidlysecured},l and a paifi of two subscribing witnesses. materia -su ortin ton ues aving an e as- 7 tie connectiz i whigh is grovided with an inc Y Y ALBERT DE O I termediate spring-finger disposed in trans Witnesses: verse relation to said tongues and loosely se- W. H. HUGG, 1o curedinthe slot of said block for yieldingly' H. J. MILLER. 

